Day: April 30, 2024

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Constructed by: Kyle Dolan
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Housemates

Themed answers each comprise two words, both of which can be MATED with “HOUSE”:

• 60A People who share a living space, and what both parts of 17-, 26-, 37-, and 49-Across can be? : HOUSEMATES

• 17A “Go,” to a driver : GREEN LIGHT (greenhouse & lighthouse)
• 26A Insurance company whose slogan begins “Like a good neighbor” : STATE FARM (state house & farmhouse)
• 37A Trip of a lifetime : DREAM VACATION (dream house & vacation house)
• 49A Boost for a hockey team after a penalty : POWER PLAY (powerhouse & playhouse)

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 6m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Phishing, e.g. : SCAM

Phishing is the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a play on the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PINs, etc.”

14 Talk Like a Pirate Day greeting : AHOY!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19th every year, a “holiday” that was created in 1995. The event started out as an inside joke between John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, but when they shared the notion with columnist Dave Barry, he promoted the idea and it took off.

15 Friend in Oaxaca : AMIGO

Oaxaca is a state in the southern part of Mexico on the Pacific coast. The state takes the name of Oaxaca, its largest city.

16 Silicon Valley’s __ Alto : PALO

The city of Palo Alto, California takes its name from a specific redwood tree called El Palo Alto (Spanish for “the tall stick”) that is located within the bounds of the city. The tree is 110 feet tall and over a thousand years old.

The Santa Clara Valley, located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay, is better known as “Silicon Valley”. The term “Silicon Valley” dates back to 1971 when it was apparently first used in a weekly trade newspaper called “Electronic News” in articles written by journalist Don Hoefler.

17 “Go,” to a driver : GREEN LIGHT (greenhouse & lighthouse)

The first traffic lights date back to 1868 when they were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. They resembled the signals already in use for trains, with semaphore arms and red and green gas lamps for nighttime use. That first system was operated manually, by a policeman at the base. Sadly, one police officer was killed just one year after the light’s installation, when the gas system exploded.

The oldest lighthouse still in use is the Tower of Hercules located on the coast of Galicia in northwest Spain. Renovated in 1791, this magnificent lighthouse was built by the Romans in 2nd century CE and has been in constant use since that time. It is believed that the structure’s design is based on the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of Ancient World.

26 Insurance company whose slogan begins “Like a good neighbor” : STATE FARM (state house & farmhouse)

State Farm started out in 1922 as an auto insurance company specializing in providing insurance for farmers, hence the name. The jingle the company uses, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”, was written in 1971 by Barry Manilow.

32 Scattergories game piece with 20 sides : DIE

Scattergories is a party game that first hit the shelves in 1988. Essentially, it is an updated version of the traditional word game called Categories. In both games, players list words all starting with the same letter that fit into particular categories.

33 Frozen treats in Roma : GELATI

Gelato (plural “gelati”) is the Italian version of American ice cream, differing in that it has a lower butterfat content than its US counterpart.

43 Med. condition featured in the novel “Turtles All the Way Down” : OCD

“Turtles All the Way Down” is a 2017, young adult novel by John Green. The protagonist is a high school student suffering from OCD and anxiety. She ends up searching for her friend’s father, a billionaire construction magnate, who goes missing.

44 “Bien sûr” : OUI

A Frenchman might utter the affirmative “Bien sûr!” (Of course!) or “Oui!” (Yes!).

46 Garden statue with a pointy hat : GNOME

In English folklore, the fairy’s anti-hero is the diminutive gnome, an evil ugly character. Although the charastics of gnomes vary in folklore, typically they are described as diminutive humanoids who live underground. Over the centuries, the gnome has become more lovable. We now have garden gnomes, and even the Travelocity Gnome.

49 Boost for a hockey team after a penalty : POWER PLAY (powerhouse & playhouse)

“Power play” is a term used in several sports. Perhaps most notably, the phrase is used in ice hockey when one team has a numerical advantage due to an opposing player serving a penalty.

58 Sign of B’way success : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

59 __ golf : MINI

Apparently, the first minigolf course in the world was built in St. Andrews in Scotland, and you can still play that course today. Back in 1867, about 100 years after the Royal and Ancient Golf Club was founded, the Ladies’ Putting Club was constructed by some of the golf clubs members so that the ladies could “have a go” at the sport. Back then it was believed that the energetic swing required to hit a ball on a full-size course was far from ladylike, so a small, 18-hole course of putting greens was deemed to be more acceptable. Different times …

63 Blackjack cards : ACES

In the card game blackjack, an ace has the point value of one or eleven. When one of the two cards dealt to a player is an ace, the hand is called “soft”. This means that the player cannot go bust by taking another card, as the ace can be revalued at “one” if necessary in order to stay under 21.

64 Fertile spots in a desert : OASES

An isolated area of vegetation in a desert is called an oasis (plural “oases”). As water is needed for plant growth, an oasis might also include a spring, pond or small lake. We often use the term “oasis” more generally to describe a haven, a place of rest.

Down

1 Lava, while underground : MAGMA

Magma is the molten material below the Earth’s surface. When magma cools, it forms igneous rock. “Magma” is a Greek term that describes a thick ointment.

4 Organ on a dollar bill : EYE

If you look at the back of a one-dollar bill there is an eye sitting above a pyramid. This is known as the Eye of Providence, and is similar to the Eye of Horus that we see so often in ancient Egyptian designs and hieroglyphs. The Eye of Providence is a common Christian emblem from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

7 Like an inflated blood pressure cuff : TIGHT

A blood pressure monitor is known more formally as a sphygmomanometer. It comprises an inflatable cuff and a manometer to measure the pressure in the cuff. The cuff is first inflated to the extent that the brachial artery in the upper arm becomes occluded (halting the blood flow). Two measurements are taken as the pressure is gradually reduced. The first is the pressure at which blood just starts to flow again. The second is the pressure at which blood starts to flow freely, unimpeded by the cuff.

9 Shepherd’s pie topper : POTATO

Shepherd’s pie, also known as “cottage pie”, is one of my favorite dishes. It is a meat pie (although my wife makes a vegetarian version), with a crust made from mashed potato. Yum …

11 Dashboard feature : CAR RADIO

Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a board placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hooves of the horses. Quite interesting …

12 Native of Africa’s largest country : ALGERIAN

Algeria is a huge country, the largest in Africa, and the largest on the Mediterranean. The capital of Algeria is Algiers, and the country takes its name from the city.

23 __ point: condensation temperature : DEW

The air’s dew point is the temperature to which it has to be cooled in order to become saturated with water vapor. Below this temperature, water vapor condenses on a surface to form dew.

27 Wonderland visitor : ALICE

The title character in Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is based on a child named Alice Liddell. Lewis Carroll (real name “Charles Lutwidge Dodgson”) met the Liddell family while he was photographing Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, after which he befriended the Liddells. Carroll told the three Liddell sisters (including Alice) a story about a little girl named Alice and her adventures, in order to entertain the children while on a boating trip on the River Isis in Oxford. He elaborated on the story for the girls on a subsequent boat trip, and agreed to write down the tale as the children loved it so much. Carroll’s writings became a full-fledged manuscript, including the author’s own illustrations. It was first published in 1865, three years after that boat trip.

28 Filmmaker Brooks : MEL

Mel Brooks’ birth name is Melvin Kaminsky. He is one of relatively few entertainers to win the “Showbiz Award Grand Slam” i.e. an Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy (EGOT). He is in good company, as the list also includes the likes of Richard Rogers, Sir John Gielgud, Marvin Hamlisch and Audrey Hepburn.

30 Street in a horror franchise : ELM

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film that was released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” or “horror”, I was surprised to learn that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

35 Sticky stuff : TAR

The terms “tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call “tarmac”.

37 Batman publisher : DC COMICS

DC Comics takes its name from what used to be a highly popular series called “Detective Comics”. The main competitor to DC Comics is Marvel Comics, and between the two companies, they command 80% of comic sales in the US market. Nowadays of course, a lot of company income comes from movies that use the most popular characters from the original comics.

38 Merlot, Malbec, Montepulciano, etc. : RED WINES

Merlot is one of the main grapes used to make Bordeaux wines, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Malbec is a red wine grape that used to be mainly associated with Bordeaux. A frost killed off much of the crop in Bordeaux in the fifties, and today Malbec wines are more closely linked to Argentina and California. I must admit to being a fan of Malbec blends …

Montepulciano is a red wine grape that originated in Tuscany in Italy. It is named for the hill town of Montepulciano in the province of Siena.

39 “The Ice Storm” director Lee : ANG

“The Ice Storm” is a 1997 drama film based on a 1994 novel of the same name by Rick Moody. Set in the seventies, it’s the story of two dysfunctional families celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. The film was a flop at the box office, despite having a fabulous cast and positive reviews from the critics. The cast includes Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood. Based on that alone, I am putting “The Ice Storm” on my “to see” list ..

44 Smelter input : ORE

Metals are found in ore in the form of oxides. In order to get pure metal from the ore, the ore is heated and the metal oxides within are reduced (i.e. the oxygen is removed) in the chemical process known as smelting. The oxygen is extracted by adding a source of carbon or carbon monoxide which uses up the excess oxygen atoms to make carbon dioxide, a waste product of smelting (and, a greenhouse gas).

45 Conclusion : UPSHOT

Back in the 1500s, the “up shot” was the final shot in an archery match. We now use the term “upshot” to describe the end result, the conclusion.

47 Occult practitioner : MYSTIC

The adjective “occult” means “secret, beyond the realm of human comprehension”. The term derives from the Latin “occultus” meaning “hidden, concealed”.

48 “Aha!” : EUREKA!

“Eureka” translates from Greek as “I have found it”. The word is usually associated with Archimedes, uttered as he stepped into his bath one day. His discovery was that the volume of water that was displaced was equal to that of the object (presumably his foot) that had been submerged. He used this fact to determine volume (and density) of a crown, something he needed in order to determine if it was made of pure gold or was a forgery.

52 Some RSVPs : YESES

“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.

61 Canoeist’s need : OAR

The boat known as a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.